The Girl Who Cried Pearls
2025 · 18m · Canada
Directed by Chris Lavis, Maciek Szczerbowski
Genres: animation, drama, fantasy
Tones: contemplative, melancholic
A stop-motion animated fable about a young girl whose tears transform into pearls — what begins as a wondrous gift becomes a burden as others exploit her grief for profit.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
A girl who cries pearls and gets exploited for them — the NFB fairy-tale format conceals a cold-eyed argument about the economy of female grief, and it won the Oscar, which means the Academy occasionally gets it right.
Lavis and Szczerbowski use the fairy-tale frame to excavate the economy of emotional labor — NFB stop-motion at the level that earns its Oscar nod. Poetic, restrained, properly fabular.
Lavis and Szczerbowski (Madame Tutli-Putli pedigree) plus NFB stop-motion plus Colm Feore is a stacked bench, and the pearl-tears-as-emotional-labor mechanic is the rare fairy-tale conceit that earns its metaphor by actually following the economics. 17 minutes is generous for stop-motion — bet it breathes.
Festivals
- Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2025
- Academy Awards 2026, Winner